


A Wake

by Dandybear



Category: The Haunting of Hill House (TV 2018)
Genre: Crain Family Bonding, Gen, Nell's dead but she's still chilling, Remember That One Time You Walked in on Your Parents Having Sex?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-24 19:55:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16646696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dandybear/pseuds/Dandybear
Summary: verbemerge or cause to emerge from a state of sleep; stop sleeping."she woke up feeling better"nouna watch or vigil held beside the body of someone who has died, sometimes accompanied by ritual observances including eating and drinking."a mourner at a wake""Blessed are we, the survivors."The remaining Crains hold a vigil for those they've lost. But, as it is with their family, the dead don't lay still.





	A Wake

**Author's Note:**

> WHY DIDN'T HUGH'S FUNERAL GET MENTIONED AT ALL DURING THE ENDING NARRATION? HE DESERVED BETTER, OKAY?
> 
> I wanted to do this because not talking about what happened is what poisoned them, so I wanted an epilogue of them clearing the air a little. I love all of my babies.

“Blessed are we, the survivors,” says Theo, raising her bottle to the halo of the porchlight.

Shirley’s more stoic in raising her glass, Steven has his ever-present grimace, and Luke nods, sipping his water.

“Last one out’s a rotten egg,” Theo adds.

It’s late October. There are no night bugs or birds to make noises of comfort. The evening is silent except for their vigil.

“Seven, six, five, four….” Luke says.

“Four of us,” Shirley says.

Steven scrubs a hand over his face.

Theo’s bravado drops quickly, dripping down her face with tears, “I miss Dad.”

“I’ve been missing Dad for twenty-six years,” Steven says.

“A bit rich coming from the guy who told him he should’ve died instead of Mom,” Shirley takes the bottle from Theo for a strong drink.

They're tired. Too tired to fight. Too many big chunks have been torn from them this month. There's not enough pride left to defend.

“Dad forgave me, just like he forgave all of us, just like he forgave anything,” Steven rubs the side of his nose.

“He forgave Mom for trying to kill us,” Luke rasps.

Just like that. There has been a closet door rattling for twenty-six years. For twenty-six years, they have ignored the sound. Ignored the bony fingers sticking out from the bottom of the doorframe. This elephant in the room wears a red robe and white nightgown.

Shirley squeezes her lips together, because she’s been begging herself to forget. Lying to herself that the bottle she saw on the counter was echinacea, clover, or any of the herbal supplements Mom kept in the cabinet. It didn’t say  _ Rat Poison _ .

“I told you this years ago and none of you ever believed me,” Luke says.

“We didn’t want to,” Steve sighs.

“I guess it took her trying a second time for it to sink in,” Theo says, “At least, this time she went for all of us instead of playing favourites.”

Shirley laugh-hums, staring at the foot of the stairs, “I always wondered why she didn’t kill me instead. I was right there in the kitchen with her and she told me to go back to bed,” she hugs herself, “That’s still more of a goodbye than….”

“Than I got,” Theo completes with a little puff of air, “My last words with Mom were complaining about dinner.”

There’s a silence to that. They’re settling into this new reality. The one where they confront their ghosts and air out the skeletons. The dust has cleared and what’s behind that brick wall is less scary when looked in the eye. It’s avoiding it that controls you.

“A haunted house ate my mother. Jesus… I have told lies and made a fool of myself,” Steve sighs.

“What’s that quote from?” Theo asks.

“I dunno… I can’t remember.”

“I always wondered if it was something I’d done wrong. If-if it was because of the dumb waiter or Abigail… it’d have to have been my fault. Couldn’t be Nellie’s fault,” Luke cradles his arm, rocking forward.

Shirley scoots over to slide her arm around his back and bury her free hand in his hair.

“I’m sorry I didn’t listen, and I’m sorry I didn’t protect you,” she says against his head.

“You were a kid, Shirl,” Theo says.

Shirley opens her mouth to protest. Theo gets up to pace.

“I mean it, you and Steve always act like you were these adult figures in that fucking house. You were thirteen and eleven. Jaden’s twelve. Would you expect him to be able to be able to talk Kevin down from a psychotic episode and protect Allie?”

“I don’t understand, there were six of us and one of her, why couldn’t someone have stopped it?” Shirley sobs.

“Because we were apart. Seven keeps us safe. The house knew-knows that. That’s why the divide and conquer tactics,” Luke says.

Steve nods, “Let’s promise. We stay four. No matter what. I’ll always be there for you all and protect you, because you’re-” his voice cracks, “you’re all I have left.”

He puts his hand out between them like they’re some kind of sports team. Theo rolls her eyes, but adds her hand on top of his. Shirley and Luke stick their hands in simultaneously.

“Crazy Crains. All for one,” Luke says.

They murmur the ‘one for all’.

“It’s weird. I dunno if it’s the house or Dad, but this is the first time it’s felt like Mom’s actually gone,” Theo says.

“I was just thinking the same thing. Spent all of these years feeling her like--” Steven begins.

“Confetti?” Shirley offers.

“A noose,” he rasps.

Kevin sticks his head out of the door, “Hey guys, the kids have gone to bed. Do you need anything?”

“No. We’ll be quiet,” Shirley avoids his gaze.

He doesn’t push it, his own mouth going hard and slack at the same time. He closes the door behind him.

“I walked in on Mom and Dad having sex once,” Theo says.

Shirley’s whole body shudders in revulsion, “Theo!”

Luke sprays his water, making a miniature rainbow in the porchlight. It disrupts the path of a wayward moth. Some of the water almost hits his sister, who has been moving like a predator across the lawn to sit on the steps. 

“Jesus Christ,” Steve snickers, shaking his head.

“Theo! Those are our parents,” Shirley hisses.

Theo smiles wetly, “Yeah, and they had,” she points to each of them as she counts, “One, two, three, four, five kids, so a little bit of fuckin’ was definitely involved.”

“Gross!” Nell laughs.

Theo wordlessly passes the bottle, curious to see if Nell can partake in her current state. What does vodka taste like as a ghost?

“I did too,” Luke admits, “Had to prove a point about something and walked right in. Shit, I had repressed this until now. Didn’t really get what they were doing as a kid, only that Dad must’ve been looking for something between Mom’s legs.”

“Oh my god! Please, don’t say anything else,” Shirley is covering her eyes in psychic pain.

Nell makes a face and hands the bottle back to Theo. Luke takes the chance to grab at her wrist. It’s cold and clammy. She strokes his knuckles.

“Movie night?” Theo asks Luke.

“Movie night.”

“Movie night?” Steven tilts his head.

“Yeah, remember? Every Friday night we’d rent like three to five movies and Mom and Dad would leave you or Shirley in charge while they locked themselves in their room.”

“I don’t remember this at all,” Steve frowns.

“Oh god, I just realized why they did that,” Shirley covers her mouth in horror.

“Told you, fuckin’,” Theo says.

“Good on them for keeping the flame alive for twenty years,” Steve shrugs.

“Forty-six,” Nell says.

Which begs them to actually look at her. All four turn their gazes. She’s not in a nightgown, neck is unbent, unbroken. No, instead, she’s as they remember her. As she’s supposed to be. Drapey, comfortable clothes and that big smile.

“It’s funny that you say that because I’ve been spending this whole week pretending that people have been arriving to celebrate their anniversary instead of watching us put Dad in the ground next to Mom and...” Theo gestures.

“And me?” Nell offers.

Theo nods.

That thought coats the air with wistfulness. In another life maybe. In another life, they’re shooting the shit on the porch of the Forever Home. Mom’s shadow can be seen in the kitchen through the window, making a pot of tea to bring out. Dad’s in there with her, reading a book they’ve been sharing. They’ve gotten weirder with each year, growing more and more into a single tangled mass of a person.  _ One person, two alone, three together _ \--Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young play on the record player that they’ve insisted on keeping.

The fantasy is so vivid, realer than real life, but all the same, blown away with a cold gust of autumn wind.

“How are you, Nellie?” Shirley asks with some caution. 

Nell ponders that. Her grey blue eyes seem clearer in death than the storm clouds she had in her last days. 

“I am floating endlessly in a sea of blackness, and ever so often I will drift into a spot of light,” she laugh-hums the same way Mom did, “And in the light I find you. You’re like fireflies, or… stars.”

Luke wipes at his eyes, smiling in a way that hurts. 

“Without anyone living the house goes into this kind of routine. We’re all like ants in a colony. Just a hive mind going through the motions. What we did. What we’re programmed to do. Replaying memories. Regrets. Dad’s been fixing the house again,” she trails off.

The porch light flickers and surges, turning a white-yellow before browning to orange. Nell’s focus is back but she’s holding her head funny. 

“We found Mom. The real Mom, not-not what the house made her into. Dad had to peel back layers of wallpaper, wood, concrete… all the way to the foundation. We found more than bones, but not much more. Hair. Filaments. Preserved. Digested. The other Mom clawed at us the whole time. It’s like she didn’t want us in there but the moment we uncovered her she just stopped. Got really quiet and and... she’s better now. She’s purple,” Nell says that with a finality like it means something.

“You found Mom’s fucking skeleton in the house?” Shirley grabs the bottle from Theo.

Nell fiddles with her hands, “Physically, but not physically. The parts of her that the house ate, before and after she died.”

Steve grabs the bottle from Shirley, taking a long gulp.

“This is gonna make one hell of a book,” he half-jokes.

Shirley flips him off, Theo snorts.

“Ooo, can I have a cool ghost name? Like ‘The Girl in the White Nightgown’ or--”

“The Bent-Neck Lady?” Luke offers.

Nell frowns, “Shit.”

She laughs in that weird, creepy way the Red Mom did, “Wouldn’t it be funny if one of those ghost hunting shows came to the house? Two guys with bad hair and night vision cameras walking around looking for doors opening and seeing like… the man in the doorway, or Abigail on the stairs, or me. I’m sure it’d make them rich, not just Steve.”

Nell’s started to drool while saying this and Theo moves her legs away from her sister to hug them close to their body.

“I am like a tiny light on the end of a monster’s antennae. I appear friendly and warm, but I’m just bait leading to the mouth,” Nell whispers.

She’s gone before they can react. There’s stillness in the aftermath. A moment’s processing before Theo bursts into tears, crying into her hand. Luke sticks his head between his knees, sucking breath in through his teeth. Shirley strokes his back, not letting those feelings process yet, instead pushing them down, festering them.

Steve throws the bottle into the yard in a moment of rage. He looks ridiculous, standing there with his arm still outstretched.

“I’ll get that in the morning,” he says.

“You’d better, before my kids find it,” Shirley’s voice is warm, but her tone leaves no room for negotiations.

“I’m gonna go cry into my pillow,” Theo stands.

“Good idea,” Steve sighs.

“Come on, I’ll set up the couch,” Shirley grabs Luke’s hand.

Luke holds his empty glass aloft, “To One, Two, and Six. To the survivors, and to bed.”

(Shirley finds the bottle back on the porch in the morning. There’s a ‘tink’ inside from her swirling. She twists it to avoid the label, seeing what caused the noise. Three buttons float to the bottom like some kind of grotesque tequila worm. She swears and empties the bottle into the garden.)


End file.
